New study published by FAO Investment Centre on Ukraine’s Sugar Sector

Ukraine is the second largest producer of sugar in Eastern Europe after the Russian Federation, contributing to about 1.2 percent to national GDP. Not only is sugar important in local diets, the industry also provides an important contribution to employment and unites producers of elite and ordinary seeds, sugar beets, seed plants, sugar plants, and industry service companies. However, the industry is subject to various risks including policy changes, international price fluctuations, competition related to the development of sugar substitutes, loss of markets for sugar confectionary and so forth.

In order to help policy-makers and investors make decisions for more efficient and inclusive agricultural food systems, FAO’s Investment Center has recently published the report “Ukraine: Sugar sector review”, which provides background information on sugar production, consumption and trade in Ukraine. The publication also provides a comparison of domestic and international sugar prices at various parity levels, identifies main producers and types of consumers, and discusses support and trade measures.

The publication is the second report in a series of three sugar sector reviews carried out by the Investment Centre Division under FAO’s cooperation with the EBRD and with the support of the FAO Trade and Markets Division. The review of Serbia is can be found hereand the review of the Russian Federation will be published at the end of 2013.